At a Tiger Watch school for girls, women from the ostracised Mogia caste in Hinduwar village listens to Fateh Singh of Tiger Watch. Singh, who established Ranthambore National Park, channels funds into the Mogia community through Tiger Watch. By investing in alternative livelihoods and education, Singh and his colleague Dharmendra Khandal hope to discourage Mogias from hunting the national park for bush-meat and tigers. ..Sariska National Park in Rajasthan was once home to dozens of tigers but by 2005 poaching had resulted in their complete eradication. Recognising the urgent need for intervention, the Indian and Rajasthan-state governments began the reintroduction of tigers into Sariska. Two cats were airlifted 200 km from Ranthambore National Park in June 2008. On November 5th an attempt to relocate a third tiger was postponed until later in the month. This relocation strategy is certainly an important part of the tiger conservation effort but many, including those like Dharmendra Khandal of the NGO Tiger Watch, argue that it will never be entirely successful without properly confronting the three essential issues that threaten tiger populations: poaching, habitat loss and the hunting of prey-base animals. In turn, these three issues cannot be addressed without acknowledging the malign influence of caste, poverty and poor administrative accountability. Poaching is almost exclusively undertaken by extremely poor and marginalised groups, including the Mogia caste who, without education, land and access to credit have limited alternative means of income. Many in the Mogia community also hunt bush meat for both their own consumption and to sell to others. This results in a depletion of the prey-base upon which tigers feed. Encroachment and grazing by those including the Gujar people who raise dairy herds, have led to habitat loss in Sariska and other parks. To properly tackle the problem of hunting and encroachment, the government must provide alternative livelihoods

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Tom Pietrasik

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